Wednesday, October 23, 2013

I have thoroughly enjoyed using my pack of Halloween MathGames in my classroom this year. They are just as engaging and exciting this year as they were for my students last year! I made
an additional set of Fall themed games to help my students practice basic
skills in the morning during arrival.

Students will be able to practice addition to ten, number words to six, fast facts with five, finding one more and one less, as well as adding and subtracting on a ten frame. The Fall theme will give us extra time to practice these skills after Halloween and through Thanksgiving!

First graders frequently work with ten frames, so the Fall 10 Frame game is a fantastic FREEBIE! I hope you enjoy it! Hop by my TpT store and check out my Halloween and Fall themed items or visit my past blog posts to pick up a few great freebies from last year! Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Monday, April 22, 2013

I'm always on the lookout for a great sub tub idea... Last week my sub did a vocabulary4 square sheet with the class to review the weekly spelling words. The students worked with a partner to define a spelling word, draw a picture, and use it in a sentence. Since we've been learning about nouns, verbs, and adjectives, they were all ready to try to classify their spelling word.

After working for a few minutes, the sub called the students back to the carpet and they all got a chance to share their work. They were surprised that some words had more than one meaning. Several of the boys defined the word "blend" as camouflage and several girls defined the word in terms of cooking. :)

I am definitely going to to keep these sheets in my sub binder. The sub said it was a great activity that kept the students engaged and was easy to facilitate.

Monday, April 15, 2013

My Spring Math Games pack is finally ready and on TpT! This pack includes10 games and they are all so much FUN! The kids had a blast "testing" this pack in the classroom! I always get "supportive" comments from my students. One little boy said to me, "Ahhh...I see what you did there, Mrs. G!" I love it! Some kids play the game and practice basic skills while others are able to identify the specific math strategies I tried to emphasize for each game.

We've been working with visualizing (making mental pictures) during our ELA block; many students were able to see that visualizing is a good math strategy too! We use the "ten frames in our head" to solve addition and subtraction problems to 20 fluently.

Students are also becoming more fluent at visualizing the hundred board in their heads as they add tens, ones, and decade numbers.

I have a great FREEBIE game for you today. It's called "Bee Nice Dice." A lot like candy land, students move ahead to the correct number space. Each time they roll a die, they follow the code to add, double, triple, or subtract to make 4, 9, or 12. The kids really enjoyed it. I did get one bit of constructive feedback, though, that games could always use a "go back to start" and "loose a turn." Oh well! This game is a move forward game! Download the FREEBIE and help your students get through the bee hive by following the number code.

If you enjoy the game, stop by my TpT store and pick up the whole pack. Many of the games are great to play as a whole class and then as early finisher activity! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Spring is in the air! It felt so good to spend time outside today planting flowers and getting the garden ready for planting time with the kids! My students have Spring Fever as well! We are definitelyready to finally have some quality outside recess time!

As you work on creating awesome lessons that hopefully take advantage of the great outdoors, take a moment to download the new verse for the week, Matthew 22:37. Have a great week!

Friday, March 15, 2013

There is nothing I love more than setting up my reading table on Thursday afternoon in anticipation for math game day on Friday! What makes it even better is when I set out new seasonal games I've made for my class! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day this Friday and the kids had a blast with the shamrock and rainbow themed games!

In the past I have had kids rotate through game stations in predetermined groups. Recently I started something new. I partner students and allow them to come "check out" their first game from my kidney table. They play until they have completed the game, and then bring their game back to the table to exchange it for another game. It works really well! There is no noisy clean up or "switch" time and kids don't get bend out of shape because they didn't finish or get a turn to "win." Since I usually had kids switch partners with each rotation, the new system alleviates all of the arguing and "I don't have a partner" business. Children work with the same partner the whole time and I try to be sure kids have a new partner each week. We had great fun today!

My students loved the Lucky 17 (race to 17 cents) and Leprechaun Line Up (add number up to 17).

I also used an adorable game from TpT called Leapin' Leprechauns. My kids playeddoubles plus one with this game. I let them use chocolate candy (gold Rolo and gold almond Hershey's kisses) as game pawns. When the reached 100, I let them eat their piece of candy.

I have a great FREEBIE to share today. Paddy's Puzzles is a hundred board puzzle game that students can play together. Students choose a shamrock number to start with and then take turns filling in the rest of the numbers on each puzzle.

If you enjoy my freebie come check out my March Fun game pack on TpT. It includes 7 more ready to go games for your first graders! Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

February has been a great month full of freebies and fun! I have enjoyed using all the great learning activities from my fellow bloggers and am looking forward to all that March has to offer! Here is another Valentine themed verse to use for the remainder of February.

This verse reminds us to let our actions speak louder than our words. I have to say that in the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks, as I work to complete my graduate research project, I have fallen short a few times. I hope to finish out the last week of February extending loving words and loving deeds to my students and the colleagues and friends around me. Download this week's verse, 1 John 3:18, and remember to show love not only in your speech but in your actions as well. Blessings!